This South Korean Invention Aims to Make Plungers Redundant

As all of our plumbers will tell you unblocking a clogged toilet is not a nice job. Any time you have to put something down the drain to unblock it such as a drain snake or a plunger there is a potential for the mess of water and bacteria to get all over you. But a South Korean inventor named Seung-il Kim has changed all that with his invention the “Pung-too”.

Seung-il told ABC News South Korea that he had a prototype about four years ago, and the device works using the same principals of a plunger by creating pressure, but it creates a much larger amount of pressure than a traditional plunger.

The invention works by sticking a strong plastic film to the top of the toilet bowl using a special adhesive. Then you flush the toilet and the pressure builds up inside, the plumber then pushed down on the plastic film a few times and the clog is no more.

This has a lot of potential to increase sanitation in the plumbing industry for the plumbers out there in the field working with blocked toilets on a daily basis. Whilst the exact origin of traditional plungers is unknown record stretch back over 100 years, and as technology and our understanding of physics changes the tools we use to get the job done change also.

A video demonstrating the Pung-too has gone viral on the internet with over 4 million views so far. The product is currently only available in South Korea and it cost approximate $25 for a pack of three, but inventor Seung-Il has stated that the video going viral has sparked interest with international vendors.